As a woman in the gym? Avoid these 5 mistakes!
New year, new me! Many women sign up to the gym with this resolution at the start of the year. But defining your body and building muscle is not that easy. But if you avoid our top 5 most common gym mistakes, you'll be well on your way.
Table of contents:
- Fear of too many muscles
- Only train problem areas in the gym
- Too much cardio in the gym
- Don't leave your comfort zone in the gym
- Too low calorie intake
- Our most important gym tips:
1. fear of too many muscles
Want to define your body? Then you should build up your muscles, because they shape your feminine curves. Many women fear that strength training will automatically turn them into a professional bodybuilder. But this fear is unfounded, because women have far too little testosterone in their blood. The "male hormone" has an anabolic effect, i.e. it builds muscle and is therefore a basic prerequisite for huge mountains of muscle. In men, daily testosterone production is 7 mg, whereas in women it is only 0.7 mg. So as long as you don't use illegal substances or have a genetic defect, you don't need to worry about having too many muscles.
2. only train problem areas in the gym
You can't determine where your body loses fat. So instead of focussing only on your problem area when training, you should try to train the muscles that burn the most calories. It is therefore smart to focus on large muscle groups such as the leg, buttock and back muscles. Ideally, you should focus on basic exercises - i.e. squats, deadlifts, rowing, bench and shoulder presses. They strengthen the entire body. Incidentally, you also train small muscle groups, such as the abdominal muscles, as you use them to stabilise yourself.
3. too much cardio in the gym
Many women only do cardio in the gym. It's not uncommon for them to sweat for hours on cardio machines. Although endurance sessions burn a lot of calories, thisis only of limited benefit for a defined figure. Quite the opposite: the so-called"skinny-fat phenomenon" often occurs. At first glance, you may appear slim, but on closer inspection you will see fat deposits on your stomach and legs and sometimes cellulite. This is because the body fat percentage is relatively high and the muscle percentage is low, despite the low weight. To look toned, we recommend training with heavy weights and short, high-intensity cardio sessions such as HIT or interval training. These are the best ways to lose fat and build muscle
.4. Don't leave your comfort zone in the gym
Having a (training) plan is good. Throwing it overboard sometimes is better. If you always do the same exercises, your body adapts quickly and you need less energy for your training. In order to increase your muscle building, you always need a higher intensity or a new stimulus that should be stronger than the last one. If you only train in your comfort zone and never go beyond your limits, the muscle will not grow. You create new stimuli by using heavier weights or performing more repetitions. On the other hand, if you give your body too little time to adapt nervously to the exercises due to constantly changing training plans, your muscles will not build up. You should therefore perform the same exercises for several weeks.
5. calorie intake too low
For the desired training success or muscle building, you must provide your body with sufficient energy. Make sure you eat a balanced, healthy diet. The best thing is a slight calorie surplus, but as a beginner you should also keep an eye on sufficient protein supply. If you don't do this, your body will be in a constant chain reaction. If you don't eat enough before training, you have no energy, can move less weight and can't set new stimuli. You should also consume enough energy after training so that your muscles regenerate sufficiently between training sessions.
Our most important gym tips:
- With our Pre- and Post Workout Shake, you are well supplied before and after training.
- Our Gainer helps you if you're struggling to consume enough calories.
- You can use our protein powder to increase your protein intake .
- Focus on the basic exercises and the large muscle groups .
- Use sufficiently heavy weights so that you can barely complete the last repetition of your set
- Focus your endurance training on short, intensive HIT or interval training sessions.
- Be patient and realise that changes don't happen overnight.
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